Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) will likely take the helm of the House Homeland Security Committee, replacing Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) after he retired over the weekend.
Garbarino won the approval of the House Steering Committee, an important panel that oversees committee assignments. While the committee’s vote will still need to be approved by the full House in a vote on Tuesday, the panel’s endorsement means Garbarino is likely to succeed.
Lawmakers told reporters as they were leaving the House Steering Committee meeting Monday that Garbarino had been selected to lead the panel. Reps. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), Clay Higgins (R-La.), and Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) also competed.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) refrained from giving an endorsement in the race.
Green resigned from Congress effective Monday, in line with an earlier announcement that he would leave Congress following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act to pursue “an opportunity in the private sector that was too exciting to pass up.”
The congressman didn’t disclose any further details about what he will do in the private sector.
Green, 60, has served Congress since 2019. Border security has been a key focus of his congressional tenure.
Before leading efforts on Mayorkas’s impeachment, Green led the committee through a nearly year-long investigation into the causes, costs, and consequences of the border crisis, which resulted in a five-phase report that covered the whole investigation.
Green’s retirement from Congress leaves Republicans with 219 seats to Democrats’ 212. This doesn’t reduce Republicans’ functional majority, as Johnson can still afford up to three defections in a party-line vote.
Garbarino, a close ally of House Republican leadership, is likely to chair the high-profile panel, in which role he’ll be responsible for overseeing key issues related to President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Garbarino was one of the impeachment managers in House Republicans’ case against former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
If confirmed by the House, he will be responsible for overseeing legislation and activities related to agencies like the Transportation Security Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and others.
A special election will be held to replace the seat vacated by Green. Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee must call a special election within 10 days of the seat’s official vacancy.
Green’s seat is expected to stay Republican as Trump won his district by 22 points in the November 2024 presidential election.
